Muscle-derived neurotrophin-3 increases the aggregation of acetylcholine receptors in neuron-muscle co-cultures.
Neurotrophins, a group of protein ligands that are structurally related to the prototype nerve growth factor (NGF), are prominently expressed in the skeletal muscle during the critical period of synapse formation. In the present study, we utilized a co-culture system of NG108-15 cells expressing the Trk receptors and C2C12 myotubes expressing the individual neurotrophins to examine whether these factors can act in a target-derived manner to influence the postsynaptic specializations. Our findings demonstrated that muscle-derived neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) has the unique ability to enhance the aggregation of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) on the myotubes following co-culture with NG108-15 cells expressing TrkC. Taken together, our findings suggest that NT-3 can act as a retrograde factor to modulate the postsynaptic specializations.
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Department of Biology and Biotechnology Research Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, China.
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D000818:Animals; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D006822:Hybrid Cells; D051379:Mice; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009447:Neuroblastoma; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000187:drug effects; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000187:drug effects; D020801:Receptor, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor; D020917:Receptor, trkA; D020812:Receptor, trkC; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects*; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000187:drug effects; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D020801:Receptor, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020917:Receptor, trkA; D020812:Receptor, trkC